Top 12 Outdoor School Holiday Fun Ideas!

min read

Top 12 Outdoor School Holiday Fun Ideas!

Check out these 12 ideas for school holiday fun outside, sure to keep the kids busy and entertained for hours! 

1. Mobile Sandpit

Buy a big flat storage box with a lid, then fill it with sand, cars and toys.Your kids will be sure to have a blast.  When they’re done, snap the lid on to keep stray cats and rain out.  Alternatively, you can buy big plastic shells from hardware or home-ware stores, and use a tarp as the ‘lid’ to protect it.

2. Water Fights

Who doesn’t love a water fight? Even better: a surprise water fight.

Buy some water guns and water bombs in secret. Pick a nice warm day, hide the water guns and water bombs, locked and loaded, in the backyard at opposite ends. Tell ll the kids to put on sunscreen and swimmers, then give them clues that will make them discover the hidden ammo! Watch the giggles, laughter and squeals of delight that follow. Extra points if you join in the fun! The surprise element will make the water fight even more fun! Imagine the glee in those faces as they catch on!

3. Lawn Art

Art and craft outside means not stressing out about the carpet or tiles getting messy. Put down an old sheet on the lawn and grab all your craft supplies. Think paints, cardboard, pencils, crayons, paper – anything you like. Then let your little ones go wild with their budding Picasso skills. Make sure you keep all your egg cartons and cardboard boxes as craft materials! One fun and cheap craft activity the kids are sure to love is to paint terracotta pots – then plant something in them!

4. Fun on Your Trampoline 

Jumping on a trampoline can provide hours of enjoyment!

If your kids are competitive, why not host your own ‘trampoline family Olympics?’ See who can win the ‘jumping sprint’ (the most jumps in a minute), or the ‘high jump’ (who can jump the highest). And don’t forget the basketball hoop comp!

5. Pool Scrabble

If you have a pool, buy several packs of small sponges, and write a letter on each one with a permanent marker.  After throwing the sponges into the pool, let the kids swim around collecting the floating letters, then see who can form the longest word with the letters they've collected.

6. Backyard Obstacle Course

Get your kids to create the obstacle course using skipping ropes, chalk, hula hoops, and any other useful items that are lying around the yard (think hoses, spare tyres, etc), and then time them going through it. Make some variations after a few rounds to make it more challenging for older kids, or simpler for the little ones.

You can also use sticks around the backyard to build an obstacle course or maze!

7. Backyard Picnic

Throw down a blanket and bring a basket of snacks, lunches and yummy drinks and have a picnic in the backyard. Bonus: most of the mess stays outside to be washed away by the rain or the hose!

8. Take a Walk

Go to the beach, or a nearby nature walk or rainforest and enjoy a family walk together. Take the time to check out all the different elements of nature around you. If you're at the beach, rock pools can provide hours of entertainment, while bush walks do the same. Pack a picnic and you'll enjoy even more time! 

9. Chalk Art

Chalkboards provide hours of creative entertainment for kids. And the best part is you can just dust it off any time to start fresh. If your kids have a cubby house, you can buy chalkboard paint for pretty cheap. The kids can go crazy decorating their cubby house with chalk-drawn decor and supplies! You can also buy a big lightweight chalkboard and lay it on the grass, or mount it to your fence. Or if you have a Springfree Trampoline, the mat is the perfect chalkboard. The kids can lay down and relax while they get creative! 

10. Nature Art 

Send the kids on a scavenger hunt to find interesting leave, sticks and pebbles around the yard. Then they can get crafty with their findings! For example, they can make little stars by tying bunches of sticks together. You can make leaf rubbing pictures by laying a leaf on a sheet of paper and genty rubbing outwards with the side of a crayon. And you can also preserve flowers by doing a DIY 'flower press' – simply place the flowers in between a few sheets of paper, then pile heavy books on top. Leave it for a few days at least, and you'll have a lovely pressed flower. Pressed flowers look really cute on home made cards!

11. Backyard Games

Send the kids outside and invite some of their friends around for some good old fashioned backyard games! Like hide and go seek, tag, capture the flag or simply kicking a ball around! 

12. Nature photo challenge! 

If the kids are old enough to use a camera on their own, send them out solo – or do this challenge as a family! Write down a list with the kids of items you'd like to find in the backyard, coming up with the list together. Throw in a few easy things like leaves, a pretty flower, an ant, and a few harder things to find, like a butterly. Then, go outside and hunt for the things of the list and take a photo of each one! Then sit down later and go through the photos as a family! 

We hope you and your kids love these ideas! Whatever you do with your kids, make sure they are sun protected and wearing the appropriate clothing and SPF 30+ sunscreen. Not only will you get to spend some quality time with them, they’ll love you even more for playing with them and making their school holidays more fun! 

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